A/N: Sorry I lied, rating will go up next chapter.

Chapter Five - Polaris

You'll sit alone forever
If you wait for the right time
What are you hoping for?

Hyde woke up the next morning, well practically afternoon, wishing he hadn't. It'd been a while since he'd drunk like that and he was reminded why. After he'd finished puking his guts out he started to remember last night and what had happened with Jackie. Damn, he really had been an asshole to her last night and for once he was going to stand up, be a man and actually apologize to her, she deserved at least that. But as he discovered he was too late. She'd taken an early flight out, saying she was needed back at work. Maybe that was true and maybe it wasn't but there was nothing he could do about it now. Besides what was one more mistake after the other thousand ones he had made where Jackie was concerned. But as he packed his bag for the trip home he wondered if maybe that was the last mistake he'd ever get to make with her.

Two weeks later and Hyde was on a plane to Atlanta. WB has suggested that Atlanta might be a good place to open another store and so here he was to check it out. Hyde sometimes really didn't believe that he was doing this, being all responsible and mature but hey the party had to end sometime. But the truth was being your own boss was pretty cool and he wasn't gonna complain about the money. It was late when he got to his hotel and he had an early start with the realtor in the morning, so all he wanted to do was hit the sack. He got into the lift, as the door was closing he swore he saw a shock of raven hair walk pass reception. No it couldn't be, he was just tired and imagining things, that was it. He spent the whole next day looking at storefront after storefront but the realtor might as well have been talking to a brick with two eyes with the amount of attention he was paying her. He couldn't help replaying last nights incident in his mind and it was slowing driving him insane.

The new store had only been open a couple of months but it was already doing better than expected. Randy was more than capable of looking after the Point Place store so Hyde could keep his focus on Chicago. It felt good having something that was completely his, that he had built from the ground up. WB and even Angie had come to visit and it seemed like his new family was proud of him. But he still wished his old family could see what he was doing. Sure he had Kelso around but he missed Kitty and Red, Eric and Donna, Fez and of course she who shall not be named.

As much as he tried not to think about her it was hard when he was worried about where she was and if she was alright. No one had heard from her since she'd left and it made him really uneasy that she hadn't at least reached out to one of them by now. He was in the office when he heard a knock on the door. It was Donna, she and Eric had come by for a visit. He had gone to see Kelso but Donna had wanted to see him first.

"So you wanted to rush over and see me first huh, does Eric know?" Hyde said almost accusingly.

"Of course he does, we don't have secrets. It was his idea that I come alone"

"Right, so is there a reason?"

"Yeah there is, Jackie called" she said in an even tone.

"Why would you think that I'd care?" hoping she didn't notice that he really did.

"Come on Hyde, we've known each other forever, I know you've been worried about her"

"Look, Jackie hasn't been my concern for a long time, she's moved on and so have I"

"That might be true but I know you want to know she's ok, and she is. She's in Washington working at a local news station"

In his well used sarcastic tone he replied "Well good for her"

"Fine be like that, we're all going out to dinner tonight, you coming?"

"I'll be there"

Donna sighed "Good, you know Hyde things don't have to be this way"

"I don't see how they can be any different" he sounded defeated.

He said goodbye to the realtor, telling her he'd be in touch and headed straight to the bar in his hotel. There was nothing a few beers couldn't fix. He went to order when a girl with a tray full of drinks nearly tipped them all over him. Now he really did wish he had been imagining things because right in front of him stood Jackie in all her glory.

"Steven… what, what are you doing here?" she said unable to hide her surprise.

"I could ask you the same thing, don't you live in Washington?"

"Did, but I just got a promotion to our Atlanta affiliate so I live here now. Why are you here?" she said with more than just mild curiosity.

With his best attempt at casualness he replied "The music scene is suppose to be pretty cool and I was thinking about opening up another store so I was just checking it out"

"Well um, good luck with that, I've got to get back to my work colleagues so…"

"Uh look Jackie, I'm uh sorry about what happened, you know, after the wedding" he said looking everywhere but at her, hands stuffed in his pockets.

"That's OK, we were pretty wasted so we can just forget about it"

"Um do you wanna, like maybe, go for a walk or something?"

"Well I'm suppose to be here getting to know people so this really isn't a great time"

"Please"

At that moment Jackie couldn't help but remember the last time she had seen Hyde look so vulnerable. It had been the one and only time he had told her he loved her but the pain had been so bad she was able to be brave and resist. But this time she knew she was gonna cave.

"Let me just give them their drinks and I'll make up some excuse"

Five minutes later they were out the door. They walked a good 10 blocks before they said anything and then suddenly decided to sit at a diner. When they were together Jackie had wished that Hyde wore his shades less often than he did just so she could maybe get a glimpse at what he was thinking or feeling. But now sitting across from him she was for once grateful they were planted firmly on his face. She couldn't deal with any heavy shit right now, not after just having to uproot herself again and start anew. To her relief they stuck to fairly safe topics like work and how their lives were different compared to when they were in Point Place. They discovered that they were staying at the same hotel and that Hyde's trip was probably a scam concocted by their nearest and dearest but they artfully stayed away from the possible motivations behind the scam.

They got through dinner somewhat uncomfortably but relatively unscathed. They even had a pleasant walk back to their hotel. Against her better judgment Jackie asked Hyde to lunch the following day and he agreed. He met her at her office and they had a casual lunch in the park. It was different than any other time they had hung out together, there were no burns or meanness and no affection like when they were together. They had entered new territory and it was nice, which was weird as nice was never a word used to describe them. They spent the next week helping each other out, he helped her look at apartments and she helped him look at store spaces.

Before he knew it he'd been there 2 weeks with no real plans to return home. It was Friday afternoon when his phone started to ring. It was Jackie, she'd just had her first work review and received a glowing report. She wanted to go out and celebrate and convinced Hyde to take her. He let her drag him to an upscale bar that was apparently the place to be seen, he guessed some things never change. He got himself a beer and her one of those fruity cocktails she liked, sat back and in his mind mocked all the posers who often frequented these types of places. She was walking back from the bathroom when some sleazy guy asked her to dance. She politely declined and started to walk away when he jumped right in front of her, blocking her path. Hyde was there in an instant and with one death glare the guy got the message and disappeared. He led her back to their table and she ordered another cocktail. By the time she'd had her fourth she was well and truly drunk and he had to practically carry her back to the hotel. He positioned her over his shoulder to open her door and then he took off her shoes and slipped her under the bedcovers. He went and sat in the armchair in the corner deciding to stay and watch her for a while to make sure she was OK. After about twenty minutes she called out to him.

"Steven, are you still here?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah I'm here, go back to sleep"

"OK…….thanks for looking after me tonight"

"Your welcome, now just go to sleep"

"I will, goodnight Steven" and within a minute she was out cold and he soon followed her.